Ann-Marie Hudaa Nielsen, Amputee
Hudaa
Description
Collection
Title:
Ann-Marie Hudaa Nielsen, Amputee
Creator:
Hudaa
Date:
9/19/2006
Text:
A Challenge to the O and P Community
I am new to this discussion and just recently became aware of it. It
concerns an ongoing debate between Physical Therapists and OandP.
In 1969, I sustained a blast wound to my left shoulder. The damage was
severe, but good military surgeons were able to reattach the arm and
reestablish blood supply. Nerve damage involved the loss of the majority of
the brachial plexus. Surgeries over the next 10 years were to stabilize the
left shoulder joint. Finger bone grafts and tendon transfers positioned my
hand into something halfway functional. During that time, my sound arm was
enjoying the benefits of cortisone shots to allow me to be pain free.
After 11 years, I requested the doctors to stop practicing medicine and
give me a hook that was more functional. I was never given any information
on how to keep from re-injuring my sound side and it continued to
deteriorate. Now, after 37 years, my sound arm has a torn rotator cuff;
spurs in the shoulder joint; nerve damage in the shoulder, elbow, and wrist;
and of course stretched bicep tendons. I thought that this was the norm
for amputees. The sound side was naturally overused over time, wasn't it?
I began rethinking about that attitude when my son became a BK and I saw him
hopping instead of using good crutches when he couldn't wear his prosthesis.
My encouragement to take care of his sound side fell on deaf ears and there
was no one from the professional community to follow up and instruct him on
the importance of maintaining both legs.
I don't remember much of my first year after the injury because I was kept
comfortably numb with codeine and valium, used for muscle relaxants. You
have to know that this was 1969 and in both military and VA hospitals. My
son's injury was in 1999 and his recovery was different, but he too doesn't
remember much of whatever was said while in the hospital. His main goal was
to get back to work because he still had a business to run. The point is
that neither of us had any follow up physical therapy after our heads were
clear of heavy pain meds. I got sent to an occupational therapist to learn
how to use my hook, but I already knew how. My son went back to work and
when he got up to ten-ply socks he finally asked me how to find a good
prosthetist because he had so much pain fitting the first leg. I asked
someone I knew for some recommendations and he suggested someone who
surprised my son by making a good fit the first go, without a painful
process.
When my prosthetist asked me how my son was doing, I mentioned my concern
and he asked if I thought my son's prosthetist should give him a follow-up
call to see how things were going. I had never heard of such a thing. Was a
prosthetist going to help with physical therapy issues?
I recently read Greg Gruman's article in OandP.com asking his great
grandfather's advice on how to give quality care to clients, considering
today's medical climate. I think having physical therapists involved with
the continued care of amputees would be an ideal match. Don't good dentists
include preventative care as part of their practices? In fact, health
insurance companies encourage this.
Good patient care does NOT begin by making a product, having a patient be
able to walk out the door with a prosthesis, or orthosis, and end when you
get paid for it.
Most of you don't remember doctors that made house calls or even nurses who
wanted to care for patients, not just get into a field that paid well - I
Do.
I left Nuclear Medicine in 1994, not just because my sound shoulder was
nonfunctional (I could have gone to administration), but more for the
medical profession's attitude in producing a product for monetary
compensation. An example is a meeting I attended that was discussing how to
market the new cobalt machine used for treating cancer patients. It made
me nauseous. I continued to work until my children were graduated (high
school, not college). I have seen this change happening in all the
disciplines. I have been both a provider and patient in health care since
1966.
A recent editorial cartoon quoted Arthur C. Clark: The Greatest tragedy in
Mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.
Morality in business is becoming nonexistent for the sake of the almighty
dollar. Society has allowed large corporations to regulate and manipulate
our lives. This is more and more evident with medical providers. Sure, you
want to make a profit for what you produce, but there is a MORAL
responsibility to make sure that what you provide will be of benefit longer
than the next insurance availability to make a new prosthesis or
orthotic. That
is what followup and preventive care is about. Even our eyeglass frames are
designed to only last one year.
When I knew I really needed a new arm, I relied on information gathered
from fellow amps about individual prosthetists – not the companies they
worked for.
In the Glossary of Amputation Terms from the Amputee Web Site it defines
Certification:
A level of training that is verified by the appropriate
professional organization. It is your proof that the practitioner has the
required Technical
training. It in no way certifies the personality or
business practices of the practitioner or facility.
As amputees, we have more and more information about what you can do. You
should know more about us as individuals that need to be guided. Not as
ones having desires to have the latest in technology. It is not the same as
getting a new car to be one up on the neighbor; however, it is beginning to
sound like that on the internet and support magazines. And the truth is,
there are those who would not benefit from a prosthesis and a team would be
able to help them and their families better understand that, but that's
another whole discussion.
Please don't give in to this thinking. Our elder population relies
especially on you for guidance. A holistic approach is both beneficial for
you and the life of your patient.
Leadership is the COURAGE to admit mistakes, the VISION to welcome change,
the ENTHUSIASM to motivate others, and the CONFIDENCE to stay OUT of STEP
when everyone else is marching to the wrong tune. (Gordon Mancy, Power
Train Advertiser, April 1987).
I see Mr. Gruman as throwing down the gauntlet to you as professionals, who
supposedly got into this field to make positive changes in peoples lives.
I'm challenging you to get up and do something also. All this baloney about
who should do what seems pretty clear: physical therapists do what they
are specially trained to do, and you do yours. Working together seems to me
to be a no-brainer. Please step forward and get whatever needs to be done
to settle this debate. We are the ones who are suffering the consequences,
and who knows, you may be in need in the future.
It would possibly be even good for your business.
Ann-Marie Hudaa Nielsen
********************
To unsubscribe, send a message to: <Email Address Redacted> with
the words UNSUB OANDP-L in the body of the
message.
If you have a problem unsubscribing,or have other
questions, send e-mail to the moderator
Paul E. Prusakowski,CPO at <Email Address Redacted>
OANDP-L is a forum for the discussion of topics
related to Orthotics and Prosthetics.
Public commercial postings are forbidden. Responses to inquiries
should not be sent to the entire oandp-l list. Professional credentials
or affiliations should be used in all communications.
I am new to this discussion and just recently became aware of it. It
concerns an ongoing debate between Physical Therapists and OandP.
In 1969, I sustained a blast wound to my left shoulder. The damage was
severe, but good military surgeons were able to reattach the arm and
reestablish blood supply. Nerve damage involved the loss of the majority of
the brachial plexus. Surgeries over the next 10 years were to stabilize the
left shoulder joint. Finger bone grafts and tendon transfers positioned my
hand into something halfway functional. During that time, my sound arm was
enjoying the benefits of cortisone shots to allow me to be pain free.
After 11 years, I requested the doctors to stop practicing medicine and
give me a hook that was more functional. I was never given any information
on how to keep from re-injuring my sound side and it continued to
deteriorate. Now, after 37 years, my sound arm has a torn rotator cuff;
spurs in the shoulder joint; nerve damage in the shoulder, elbow, and wrist;
and of course stretched bicep tendons. I thought that this was the norm
for amputees. The sound side was naturally overused over time, wasn't it?
I began rethinking about that attitude when my son became a BK and I saw him
hopping instead of using good crutches when he couldn't wear his prosthesis.
My encouragement to take care of his sound side fell on deaf ears and there
was no one from the professional community to follow up and instruct him on
the importance of maintaining both legs.
I don't remember much of my first year after the injury because I was kept
comfortably numb with codeine and valium, used for muscle relaxants. You
have to know that this was 1969 and in both military and VA hospitals. My
son's injury was in 1999 and his recovery was different, but he too doesn't
remember much of whatever was said while in the hospital. His main goal was
to get back to work because he still had a business to run. The point is
that neither of us had any follow up physical therapy after our heads were
clear of heavy pain meds. I got sent to an occupational therapist to learn
how to use my hook, but I already knew how. My son went back to work and
when he got up to ten-ply socks he finally asked me how to find a good
prosthetist because he had so much pain fitting the first leg. I asked
someone I knew for some recommendations and he suggested someone who
surprised my son by making a good fit the first go, without a painful
process.
When my prosthetist asked me how my son was doing, I mentioned my concern
and he asked if I thought my son's prosthetist should give him a follow-up
call to see how things were going. I had never heard of such a thing. Was a
prosthetist going to help with physical therapy issues?
I recently read Greg Gruman's article in OandP.com asking his great
grandfather's advice on how to give quality care to clients, considering
today's medical climate. I think having physical therapists involved with
the continued care of amputees would be an ideal match. Don't good dentists
include preventative care as part of their practices? In fact, health
insurance companies encourage this.
Good patient care does NOT begin by making a product, having a patient be
able to walk out the door with a prosthesis, or orthosis, and end when you
get paid for it.
Most of you don't remember doctors that made house calls or even nurses who
wanted to care for patients, not just get into a field that paid well - I
Do.
I left Nuclear Medicine in 1994, not just because my sound shoulder was
nonfunctional (I could have gone to administration), but more for the
medical profession's attitude in producing a product for monetary
compensation. An example is a meeting I attended that was discussing how to
market the new cobalt machine used for treating cancer patients. It made
me nauseous. I continued to work until my children were graduated (high
school, not college). I have seen this change happening in all the
disciplines. I have been both a provider and patient in health care since
1966.
A recent editorial cartoon quoted Arthur C. Clark: The Greatest tragedy in
Mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.
Morality in business is becoming nonexistent for the sake of the almighty
dollar. Society has allowed large corporations to regulate and manipulate
our lives. This is more and more evident with medical providers. Sure, you
want to make a profit for what you produce, but there is a MORAL
responsibility to make sure that what you provide will be of benefit longer
than the next insurance availability to make a new prosthesis or
orthotic. That
is what followup and preventive care is about. Even our eyeglass frames are
designed to only last one year.
When I knew I really needed a new arm, I relied on information gathered
from fellow amps about individual prosthetists – not the companies they
worked for.
In the Glossary of Amputation Terms from the Amputee Web Site it defines
Certification:
A level of training that is verified by the appropriate
professional organization. It is your proof that the practitioner has the
required Technical
training. It in no way certifies the personality or
business practices of the practitioner or facility.
As amputees, we have more and more information about what you can do. You
should know more about us as individuals that need to be guided. Not as
ones having desires to have the latest in technology. It is not the same as
getting a new car to be one up on the neighbor; however, it is beginning to
sound like that on the internet and support magazines. And the truth is,
there are those who would not benefit from a prosthesis and a team would be
able to help them and their families better understand that, but that's
another whole discussion.
Please don't give in to this thinking. Our elder population relies
especially on you for guidance. A holistic approach is both beneficial for
you and the life of your patient.
Leadership is the COURAGE to admit mistakes, the VISION to welcome change,
the ENTHUSIASM to motivate others, and the CONFIDENCE to stay OUT of STEP
when everyone else is marching to the wrong tune. (Gordon Mancy, Power
Train Advertiser, April 1987).
I see Mr. Gruman as throwing down the gauntlet to you as professionals, who
supposedly got into this field to make positive changes in peoples lives.
I'm challenging you to get up and do something also. All this baloney about
who should do what seems pretty clear: physical therapists do what they
are specially trained to do, and you do yours. Working together seems to me
to be a no-brainer. Please step forward and get whatever needs to be done
to settle this debate. We are the ones who are suffering the consequences,
and who knows, you may be in need in the future.
It would possibly be even good for your business.
Ann-Marie Hudaa Nielsen
********************
To unsubscribe, send a message to: <Email Address Redacted> with
the words UNSUB OANDP-L in the body of the
message.
If you have a problem unsubscribing,or have other
questions, send e-mail to the moderator
Paul E. Prusakowski,CPO at <Email Address Redacted>
OANDP-L is a forum for the discussion of topics
related to Orthotics and Prosthetics.
Public commercial postings are forbidden. Responses to inquiries
should not be sent to the entire oandp-l list. Professional credentials
or affiliations should be used in all communications.
Citation
Hudaa, “Ann-Marie Hudaa Nielsen, Amputee,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/227198.
